TSB standing orders bounce as online banking chaos continues

May 1, 2018

TSB customers are complaining that standing orders are bouncing back into their accounts as the bank’s IT meltdown continues into its second week.

The bank has insisted on its website and social media that standing orders are going in and out of accounts as normal, but MoneySavingExpert has seen more than a dozen complaints from customers on Tuesday morning claiming that standing orders haven’t gone through.

Those who are affected could face late payment fees, since it is the first day of the month and therefore the due date for many people’s rent and utility bills. TSB has promised that nobody will be left out of pocket by the issues that it has faced in the past week and a half, though it’s yet to give full details of what compensation it’ll offer.

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‘Over £400 in payments bounced back’

Among those affected by the problems on Tuesday morning was mum Pamela Little, who said standing orders worth over £400 to her daughter and for her rent have bounced back into her account.

Pamela, 33, from North Lanarkshire told MoneySavingExpert she had had standing orders leave her TSB account last week successfully, so she believed this was a new issue.

She said: “My standing orders went out of my account, but were then sent back. TSB tried to say it could have been because the other peoples accounts were closed, however a) if my council had closed their bank account, I would have been notified as its where I pay rent to, and b) the other one is my daughter’s savings account that I opened and control, so if I had closed it I would remember.

“Im furious with TSB. So many problems and you wait an hour to get through to them.

“They have told me if I incur any charges they will sort it out for me. I dont think I will but I will need to speak to the council about my rent and might need to make a manual payment. It’s very frustrating.”

Poppy McRae was also affected by the issue, and told MoneySavingExpert she hadn’t been able to get through to TSB to discuss it.

The 22-year-old from Glasgow said: “I only have one standing order and it is for my rent, and it appeared to leave my account this morning and then bounced back later on.

“I have had no reply from TSB on Twitter and I attempted to phone their telephone banking – I was hung up on and asked to try again later as they are experiencing a high volume of calls. I am now going to go into the branch to have this issue resolved.”

Other customers have been reporting similar issues on social media:

@TSB@MoneySavingExpIt appears that some or all standing orders that left tsb today have bounced back despite funds available! Can’t get response. DD’s fine but not SO’s. Can someone tell me if these standing orders will be paid please!!!!!!

I’m affected – what can I do?

If you have a standing order which has bounced back to you, you could try and make the payment manually, either in a TSB branch or by telephone banking. Make sure you explain that you are doing this because your standing order has failed, so the bank can make sure your standing order doesn’t then go out as well later in the day.

Beware though, customers using TSB’s telephone banking service at the moment are reporting long wait times, so you could be on the phone for a while.

If you aren’t able to do this, TSB has reassured customers that they won’t be left out of pocket by the problems it has encountered in the past week and a half, so you shouldn’t lose out financially. Keep a note of what has happened, and submit a complaint to TSB with the details – see full help in our TSB online banking problems guide.

If you think you’re going to be late with a payment that you owe, contact the company or organisation the payment is being made to and tell it what is going on. You may be able to avoid it marking your credit file or hitting you with a late fee if you explain your situation.

What does TSB say?

A TSB spokesperson told us: “Direct debits are working normally. We know there are some issues with a small number of standing orders today, we are working hard to resolve these.”